1. Internet research Just a “click” away Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

2. SEARCH ENGINE… What is it?  A Search Engine is an internet tool that locates web pages and sorts them by specified keywords. www.tekmom.com/search/index.html Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

3. Types of Search Engines  Yahoo and Alta Vista are the most useful search engines for beginning searches.  Google, Northern Light, and Snap access the greatest percentage of the World Wide Web—only around 15-16%  Dogpile will search through several search engines at once. Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

4. Internet Search How To’s  Do not ask a question! Carefully choose the KEYWORD that is relevant to what you are researching. BE SPECIFIC Remember that your goal is to obtain the most information without getting an over abundance of “hits”. Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

5. Internet Search How To’s  Use Synonyms for each keyword in your search. This will provide a better chance of matching your search request. Ex: “buy, purchase, order”  Use Homonyms with caution. The computer doesn’t know the difference! Ex: China/china or Polish/polish Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

6. Internet Search How To’s Google Shortcuts! These shortcuts will greatly cut down on your search time. Most all of the search engines have some kind of shortcut method. It is a good idea to read the directions for each search engine to get the most out of your search. http://websearch.about.com/library/cheatsheet/ngooglecheatsheet.htm Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

7. Internet Search How To’s  Use Boolean Logic! Use the words AND, OR, and NOT in your search to expand or limit your search.  AND – By putting AND between two terms, you will get information that has both terms. This will eliminate sites that contain one term or the other. ***AND will narrow a search. Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

8. Internet Search How To’s  OR – The term OR will broaden a search. When used between two search terms, it indicates that pages with one term or the other are acceptable. Example: If purchasing an ipod… **Purchase AND ipod **(purchase OR buy OR “mail order”) AND ipod Use parenthesis to group terms that are alike. Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

9. Internet Search How To’s  NOT – The term NOT is used in special circumstances. This will limit a search to specific keywords. It is also an effective way to eliminate homonyms. Example: If you are searching things that are Polish (from Poland) and you don’t want shoe polish, you can use… (Polish NOT shoe)…Always use parenthesis with the term NOT! Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

10. Internet Search How To’s  Review…. AND – for combination and narrowing; between different concepts OR – to broaden a search; for synonyms NOT - to narrow a search; keyword specific These operators also work when searching on the library card catalog!!! Use the “POWER” button Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

11. Internet Search How To’s Field Searching. Google Yahoo! Live Search Ask Title: Find 1 Term Intitle:term OR Allintitle:term Intitle:term Title: Find 2 or more terms Allintitle: term term term Intitle:term Intitle:term term term URL: Find 1 Term Inurl:term OR Allinurl:term Inurl:termDoes not work Inurl:term URL: Find 2 or more terms Allinurl:term term term Inurl:term Does not work Inurl:term term * Do not put a space between the colon and the first term being searched. It is not necessary

12. Online Reference Sources Encyclopedia Britannica www.school.eb.com Merriam-Webster Dictionary www.merriam-webster.com/home.htm Ebsco http://search.ebscohost.com Thesaurus http://thesaurus.reference.com Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

13. Online Reference Resources Virtual Reference Library www.askscott.com www.refdesk.com Wikipedia www.wikipedia.com Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center

14. Internet Research Get clickin’ Owasso Eighth Grade Media Center